With an estimated value of nearly $1 billion, the multi-family properties formerly owned by Corus Bank are located in Stamford, Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Tampa. The Stamford site is Highgrove, an 18-story complex on Forest Street that was designed as condominiums but opened last year as an apartment building with rents ranging from $4,000 to $9,000 per month.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. in 2009 awarded ST Residential, the asset management consortium led by Greenwich-based Starwood Capital, with the $4.5 billion portfolio for a combined bid of $554 million. The agreement gives the FDIC, which provided financing, a 60 percent equity share in ST Residential.

The 13 properties are a part of the Corus portfolio acquired by Starwood Capital and its partners, private equity firms TPG, WLR LeFrak and Perry Capital.

The partnership has improved and repositioned the properties in their respective markets. After completion of construction, and in some cases, nearly complete redesign of landscaping, sales centers and model units, the portfolio's occupancy has reached 98 percent. The partners will take bids on individual properties, groups of properties or the whole portfolio.

"The Corus Bank transaction has performed extremely well for the FDIC and our private investor group," Sternlicht, chairman and chief executive officer of Starwood Capital and chairman of ST Residential, said in a statement. "The partnership has repaid $1.3 billion of FDIC purchase money notes and has more than $1 billion of cash in hand. More than 32 loans were paid off at par and we have sold 60 percent of the condo inventory we acquired at ever escalating prices."